A Matter of "Race"

For 50 years, the issue of race has plagued Malaysia. What exactly is race? Anthropologically, there are only the Caucasoid, Mongoloid and the Negroid. Genetically, all human are of the same species i.e. homo sapien . The race that we are familiar with today is a mere social construct created to distinguish between people of different society with different customs and culture. Therefore any discrimination based on race is purely a case of power play which will eventually lead to violent competition for supremacy.

The term Bumiputra is obviously not a race. It was coined by the ruling party to score political points and to legitimise the act of discrimination against political opponents. It was never meant to protect the interest of the people. It was a farce and deception that culminated in the defeat of its creator in the recent election.

Granted that Bumiputras are given special rights by the constitution which defines the term as indigenous people of Malaysia including the Malays. But who are the Malays? Instead of all the scientific explanations and theories, simple common sense will suffice. People from Penang called themselves "orang Penang". People from Perak called themselves "orang Perak". Likewise, when Parameswara, an invader from the then Majapahit Empire founded the Malacca Sultanate, he and his followers were known as "orang Malayu" by the natives to differentiate between the rulers and the subjects. For the same reason Penangites called themselves "orang Pulau Pinang" because they are from Pulau Pinang, "orang Malayu" came from Malayu, a princedom in Palembang. Therefore, if anyone today who can unambiguosly claimed to be a Malay are the royalties and no one else.

However the distinction soon disappeared as new generation born after the invasion identified with the Sultanate and all the subjects called themselves the people of Malayu Kingdom which in the Malay language is "orang Malayu". The British colonial rulers called the Malayu, Malay from its original pronunciation. The spelling of Malayu was changed to Melayu when roman alphabets were introduced into the Malay language.Thus Melayu refers to a nationality not a race. Since Malay is a nationality and not a race, in today's context, all Malaysians are actually Malay.

Rukun Negara is a joke

As far as the Umno is concerned, Rukun Negara is a joke. Even though Umno had showed blatant disregards to the Rukun Negara in the past, they went unnoticed. But the current election have intensified their misdemours and the culprits cannot be bothered to be discreet nor apologetic about it anymore as shown by the events below:

1. Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan
- Umno actions of tearing down Indian and Chinese temples implies there are no Gods for the Chinese nor Indian.
- Introduction of Islam Hadhari implies assuming the role of prophets in introducing new words from God.

2. Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara
- Rebelling and insulting the Sultan of Perlis by Shahidan when Isa was appointed MB.

3.Keluhuran Perlembagaan
- Over the years, UMNO had amended the Constitution to suits their needs more often then changing their underwear.

4. Kedaulatan Undang-undang
- too many to mention but the majors include VK Lingam trading positions in the judiciacy like a commodity
- drug traffikers discharged because evidence mysteriously disappear from police station
- an underaged girl raped by a MB was instead convicted for prostitution and MB was potrayed as a victim

5. Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan
- Waving keris and encouraging the killing of citizens in an official function by highranking officials of UMNO is considered sopan.
- Shouting, abusing and sexual harassment is the manners of UMNO

Each and every of the 5 principles of Rukun Negara has been breached by UMNO every day of the year since the very day of its inception in 1970. When the supposedly founder and keeper of the Rukun Negara himself does not practice the principles, how can you expect others to follow suit?

The Invisible Hands

Something big is happening in Malaysia. It is not the victory of Barisan Rakyat in the recent election. It is also not the decadence of Barisan National which is slowly but surely becoming irrelevant in the context of Malaysian political landscape today. It is also not about Makkal Sakti.



It is about a clandestine movement ala the western freemasons which consists of powerful personalities and intellectuals whose thoughts transcend race, nationality and religion. They have been watching patiently the progress of Malaysia under a government with absolute power for almost half a century. They have never interfered in the government despite having the power to do so . The significance of their existence was either ignored or totally unwaried by the goverment or people at large. To them, corruption is only a subjective perception and insignificant to justify their intervention.



They have but only one objective, and that is the preservation and protection of the sovereignity of this country. It is not about national security as defined by the ruling party who goes around arresting opponents citing ISA. It is about national security concerning high treason. The only time it was committed was the secession of Singapore and this group of people have sworn never again to allow such thing to happen again.



However, into the 21st century, this group began to feel uncomfortable and felt a threat has come into existence that deserved their attention. Thus, began the plan to save the country. People will began to notice seemingly impossible accomplished, seemingly unattainable attained. The recent political "tsunami" is a part of the fabric of their grander plan. And very soon, the people of Malaysia will start to feel the presence of these "invisible hands". ..... (to be continued)

The dawn of a new Malaysia

8 March 2008 will go down in the Malaysian history as the day Malaysians gained back its independence from the tyranny of the ruling elites which ruled under state of emergency since 1969 when Razak stage a coup d'etat against our Bapak Kemerdekaan using the May 13 incident he and Harun concocted as an excuse. And up to today, the ruling elites are still using the spectre of this incident to threatened the people. By the way, the state of emergency was never oficially lifted.

Even though the People Front could not form the national government yet, their unprecendented victories in taking over 5 of the largest and richest states in Malaysia marks the first step towards a true government of the people, by the people, for the people.

Though many people have made no small amount of sacrifices to the cause of this movement to unite the people against tyranny, such as members of Hindraf, Bersih, bloggers etc., the two persons I would regard as the main heroes will be RPK and Anwar. RPK, for bringing issues closest to every Malaysians's heart but afraid to voice out and despite being a member of the royalty is willing to come down to the grassroot level by creating a true forum of freedom speech thru his Malaysia Today website. Anwar for relentlessly calling for national unity and dispelling mistrust among the people of differents ethnicity and religious believe. RPK and Anwar served as the lightning rod to concentrate the people's power into a focused power to be reckoned with even though the numbers and resources are few compared with the adversaries.

But again, this is only the first step. Whether the mandate given will used for the good of the people or a repeat of the Badawi's administration remain to be seen. Badawi's administration created 2 histories; the historic win in the 2004 election with 91% mandate and the historic loss in 2008. So, my advice to the leaders in the People's Front: "Never underestimate the power of the people".